A Wind Chill Advisory is in effect tonight for a portion of north central Iowa.
The combination of temperatures below zero and a 5-10 mph will push wind chills down into the teens and 20s below zero.
The one thing that could help us stay a little warmer tonight would be clouds. The more clouds we have above the warmer the temperatures will be here on the ground. We will start the night mostly cloudy but after midnight the sky will become partly cloudy to mostly clear. This will vary from location to location. The clouds will clear faster across the north. The forecast lows take into account less cloud cover overnight. There are two areas of clouds that I am tracking that may impact the lows tonight. I outlined them on the image below.

It will be a cold New Year’s Eve.

High pressure will provide sunshine for the first day of 2013. A weak area of low pressure will track east across the US/Canadian border Wednesday with light snow. Iowa will be south of any moisture except a few flurries are possible north of Highway 20. We will mainly have a mostly cloudy sky. Here is the forecast map for Wednesday morning.

Thursday and Friday will be colder behind the cold that pushes through here Wednesday. Highs will be in the teens but there is a possible warm-up in sight. By the weekend and early next week high temperatures will be in the 20s. Monday next week will be close to 30 degrees.

From NWS
1863: From New Years Eve 1863 into New Years Day 1864 a severe blizzard struck most of Iowa, being by some accounts one of the worst in the recorded history of the state. There were contemporary reports of “men frozen stiff and dead while sitting bolt upright in their wagons” and snow drifts more than 10 feet deep in northern Iowa. Even after the snow ended late on New Years Day extremely cold temperatures and high winds made travel virtually impossible for several days. Dozens of soldiers stationed at Estherville after recent conflicts with Native Americans nearly starved to death as no trains or supplies could reach them for almost a week.

This Day in National/World Weather History …

31 December 1967 → The Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 21 to 17 in theIce Bowl. It was 13 degrees below zero at Lambeau Field, and the wind chill was -40.

31 December 1988 → The Chicago Bears beat the Eagles 20 to 12 in the playoff game known as the Fog Bowl. Just before half-time, a dense fog rolled in from Lake Michigan. Visibility was less than 20 yards. The fans and the announcers could not even see the game!

31 December 2000 → The 2000 Independence Bowl will be remembered as the Snow Bowl. About 30 minutes before kickoff snow blew into Shreveport, LA with strong winds whipping from one end zone to the other. The game started with the synthetic grass field a mix of green and white. By the second quarter, the turf was blanketed by snow. Plows were used during timeouts to make the goal lines, end lines, and hash marks visible. Snow fell throughout the game. Mississippi State beat Texas A&M 43 to 41 in overtime.

A cold front will cross the state late tonight with the wind shifting to the northwest. Cold air will move south behind the front. There is a secondary cold front but that is forecast to weaken Monday. High temperatures Monday will be in the morning and slowly fall through the day. Here is the forecast position of the cold front Monday morning.

If you are going out to ring in the new year prepare for the cold.

High temperatures on New Year’s Day (Tuesday) will be very cold as the temperatures struggle to reach 10 degrees. Here are the forecast high temperatures across the Upper Midwest.

Another front is forecast to cross Iowa Wednesday with clouds and slightly warmer temperatures (high near 20s). Behind the front, Thursday and Friday, it will be a little colder with highs in the mid-upper teens.

From NWS
1965: The year ended with unseasonably warm weather on December 30-31 as many stations across southern Iowa climbed into the 60s on both of those days. The highest readings were generally reached on the 30th when Des Moines and Waterloo both established daily records with highs of 63 F and 60 F, respectively. Other reported high temperatures included 63 F at Albia, Clarinda, and Fairfield, 64 F at Bloomfield and Ottumwa, and 65 F at Keokuk and Keosauqua.

This Day in National/World Weather History …

30 December 1933 → The temperature reached 50 degrees below zero at Bloomfield, VT. It was the coldest reading in modern records for New England. The temperature at Pittsburg, NH reached 44 degrees below zero.

30 December 1962 → One of the worst blizzards in the 20th Century occurred in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Maine received most of the snow with dangerous wind chills the primary source of discomfort for New Hampshire and Vermont. 40 inches fell in just 24 hours at Orono, ME. Drifts reached 20 feet in Bangor, ME. Temperatures were below zero and winds over 60 mph produced life threatening wind chills.

From NWS
1917: Extremely cold weather brought the temperature all the way down to -40 F at Washta setting the all-time Iowa December record. A low temperature of -28 F at Sioux City also set the December record at that location. Other reported low temperatures included -39 F at Inwood, -25 F at Fort Dodge and Pella, -20 F at Fairfield, and -17 F at Des Moines.

This Day in National/World Weather History …

29 December 1894 → Temperatures fell into the 10 to 15 degree range in northern Florida. Tallahassee remained below freezing for the entire day.

29 December 1942 → One of the worst freezing rain storms to hit eastern Ontario in 100 years was underway. More than 1 inch of ice brought the area to a standstill for several days. Outlying areas were reported to be a mass of tangled wires and trees. Telephone wires were covered by ice as thick as a person’s wrist.

29 December 1964 → Wind speeds reached 130 mph a during severe storm at Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia.